Pastor Mauricio Solis has been serving in Costa Rica for the past 23 years. Previously a psychologist, now he is at the forefront of leading his congregation at West Abundant Life Church in San José. The publication of the Latin American Bible Commentary has shaped his teaching and his ministry.
The gospel preached to everyone
West Abundant Life Church is located in the west of San José in an area of major growth. It’s in a middle-class community, but also very close to two very poor neighbourhoods with deeply rooted challenges of crime and poverty. This brings two worlds often together in the church, and Mauricio sees openness and being welcoming to all as a core tenet of their church community.
He explains, “I have passion for the social things, for the deprived people, the ill, and I started to preach to addicted people. And they started to come.”
When this first began, an elder in the church pulled him aside and advised him to stop ministering to these people, because they were concerned it would drive away others. Mauricio had a different perspective.
He shares, “I said no. This will be an open church. No matter your likes or dislikes, we have to preach the gospel to everyone. We are all on the same level as sinners.”
This tension between people’s circumstances is an ongoing challenge in their context. However, it doesn’t dampen Mauricio’s heart to see all people hear the good news of Jesus and be welcomed into fellowship with him and his people.
For him, good contextual preaching is at the heart of this!
Resourcing pastors and people
The Latin American Bible Commentary has been a great resource to support Mauricio and his congregation. He says “I read it every time I preach.”
In Latin America, pastors, and Christians generally, lack a lot of access to good resources and training. The access they do have is often ‘far from their reality’ when it comes to context and methodologies. This is what makes the Latin American Bible Commentary so unique.
He says, “Books like this help us to see our reality [here in the Bible]. I can read and look for help when I need to better understand an issue, and I go here…and I can relate to the explanations. I think the creation of this type of resource, not only this one but more in the future, will help minister to this new generation of pastors.”
From Latin America to the world
There is so much the global church can learn from each other, and Mauricio sees the Latin American church as a rich community with much to share.
He says, “I believe that the church in Latin America can offer to [the Western] church transformation through looking at how we live life with simplicity, doing a lot with very few resources. Looking at the courage of people facing risk and facing danger and expressing their own faith and this sense of community, of communion that we have. I also think we have learned to depend on God.”